M's Food Find #79

A very unassuming place tucked away next to V Burger in East Victoria Park. Order and pay at the counter, yummy iced Bandung drink.


Indonesians come here to get their fix too and it really says quite a bit about the local flavours.



It isnt a really big place and nothing too fancy at all. Just simple and good indonesian food.


The grilled fish was slightly sweet and smokey.


The noodles portion were not big. Just right I would say but half of what the Aussie portion normally is.


The yummy soup was really good too.


Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

Will I return? most definitely. It is just good fare. and reasonable prices. and satisfies my cravings.

M's Food Find #68

Now yesterday's food find was in Singapore, today's shall feature something in Perth where I am. I went there in during the seasonal change between winter and spring so still relatively cold. Located in the heart of Subiaco, and on Rokeby Road, Witch's Cauldron is known for its fare and quite a dining experience. I was quite excited to bring my parents there on their visit because well, given its good reviews from quite a few people I know and its reputation...

Here we go.


So not impressed with alot of Aussie restaurants' menus. Such classless presentation for the prices we are to be paying. Its always the whole package. A piece of paper hardly shows any signs of details does it?


The decoration is obviously quite inspired by the name and the interior is pretty cosy I would say.


The scallops were beautifully done. Very fresh and juicy. The right touch of panseared goodness. However, in my opinion the good point ends here...



I ordered the lamb shank. I had the biggest craving and finally had the chance to have it. To me lamb shank should be melting off the bones, this wasn't really quite up to scratch. The mash was quite buttery and smooth, with the gravy, pretty yums. I didnt even quite want the lamb after that. Which is a big pity because the point of this dish is the shank not the mash!



Mama had the fish, she quite liked it. It was fresh but slightly overcook. She didnt find anything too wow about on the whole.



The famous garlic prawns. I also have a friend who I knows completely adores this. She loves it so much I can see her practically drooling just the thought of it. So does it live up to its hype? Well, the prawns were fresh and plump. You can just taste the ocean. The sauce was slightly bland and the garlic punch could have been stronger.


And we had to end the dinner with dessert, I aint going anywhere without dessert. I want some. And we did. Ordered the sticky date toffee pudding to top off the very aussie dinner menu. The butterscotch sauce was quite burnt? I didnt find it to-die-for. The toffeepudding, lets just say I have had better.


Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

And of course, with Daddy around, there will always be wine... Cute touch on the wine glasses.

Will I return? Probably not. Will I recommend it to any visitors? Probably not. Will I take my friends and family there when they visit? Probably not. Why? Because there are much better places around with better prices. And maybe I am spoilt with the standard of fine dining I have been exposed to all around the world.

And honestly, the prawns and scallops which were outstanding here, it was really the quality of the produce which i can find in the amazing markets around here and cook it myself. Have you been? What's YOUR experience like?

M's Food Find #81

Quite a rare miss on the May's culinary adventure in Perth this year. Mahsuri Satay Restaurant in East Vic Park along Albany Highway. We stopped by for lunch one hot spring day and quite sad to see only one other couple in the restaurant.


Ordered a jug of bandung - rose syrup drink. I love bandung and was really happy to have had it. It came with sweet corn in it which was abit weird but cool for the hot day.

The restaurant's ONLY saving grace and perhaps why they named it so. Their lamb satay were nicely grilled and tender. Comes with onions, cucumbers and ketupak, traditional!

Sam's laksa was lukewarm and very very bland. Tasteless and the gravy is kinda like coloured water. Yeuch.
My mee rebus looks good but equally tasteless. I didnt even finish it. Service took pretty long for an empty restaurant and very disappointing when the food served finally was quite horrid.

Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

They didnt have fan or air-con switched on! So we were kinda sweating and NOT enjoying our food. No prizes for guessing I wont be returning anytime soon.

Till my next food find, Mayy xo

M's Food Find #80

In preparation for the next semester, here's a new place Curtin students can go for in the Waterford Plaza. Tenten can get quite boring albeit pretty good food if we are not fussy, Burger edge is bad for the waistline if too regular visits, Mikasa and Chiliz are old hat.

Jamaica Blue opens in the new wing across the chocolate lounge and looks a world away from books and laptops.


Bright and sunny interior and furnishings.

I absolutely loved the swivel postal stamped printed chairs. They are so comfortable as well!



Serving all-day brekkie if I am not wrong and pretty good coffee.

You also have regular meal choices.

They have their own magazine and I poached one home ;) because of some of the recipes in the mag and Chef Heston is an inspiration.

Sam's full brekkie. Looks nothing special but I guess it should be alright since someone polished the lot off.


The yummy chicken avocado salad!

My smoked salmon eggs ben. A tad too heavy on the hollandaise sauce but otherwise acceptable. Too expensive for the small amount of food in my opinion.

Poached perfectly...
Chia Ling's cinnamon french toast... doesnt look too appetising but when she cut into them, they looked very soft and fluffy!

Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

Since it was quite a hot day, we settled for some chillers. Wished they were stronger on the coffee taste. Heavens know how much I needed coffee... But since Im back in Singapore, I need a stiff drink. I was good on my plane back but lets hope its not the tone for my vacation. Girl needs to let her hair down once in a while.

Back to this place, glad to have it near uni when I need a quick brunch fix.

Till my next food find, Mayy xo

M's Food Find #71 (update)

Heyhey! Now I've blogged about this restaurant before, called Kai in Parry Avenue. But had to do a quick update because I keep going back since the first visit and on the second visit discovered this... AND never ever order anything else since.

It's called the Sushi for Salmon Lovers. I can see why! It costs $16.50 and always takes ages to arrive to the table... Seriously. Especially when Sam orders his ramen and he finishes it before my sushi gets to me. RAH. This photo is taken from my first order of this plate. And seriously, the subsequent orders never looked this good.

The little sushi rolls have fresh salmon, cucumber and avocado in them. The rice used is pretty soft and not the best but I will let it slide. Because of the fresh salmon sushi and the seared salmon sushi. I LOVE THE SEARED SALMON! I am not a big fan of the salmon caviar sushi so I swapped it for the seared so I get two instead of one ;)

Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

The reason why I fell in love with this plate (other than the seared salmon) is the first time I ordered it, the fresh salmon sushi came to me like this, familiar looking! I knew it was fresh and not just fresh, it was going to taste pretty amazing. And I was right. Unfortunately, the standards have since dropped in particular to this because I never saw the skin or this colour or cut again when it comes to me. Quite disappointing.

But well, worth giving it a go still in my opinion!

Till my next food find, Mayy xo

M's Food Find #75 (ichi)

Hello everyone! How's your Tuesday! Typically one of my favourite days in the week. I somehow love Tuesdays the word, the day and maybe it has got to do with the fact that I was born on a Tuesday!

And today, I would like to celebrate a nice cold Tuesday with you and take you on a wonderful culinary experience I went on recently. Last Friday to be exact, in celebration of me submitting my year's worth of hard work.

Nobu just opened in town (specifically, Burswood Intercontinental) and I just had to visit it. Japanese cuisine, and Nobu. Eh duhhhh. I want to see if it lives up to all the expectations in the world and if I could find something close to home. Price has always been irrelevant when it comes to good food for me. Food I love and grow up with. Fond memories are irreplaceable and priceless.

Tucked away quiet at the end of spice bar and atrium buffet.

The bar waiting area. I love how they directed us there saying we were the first to arrive. Very beautiful. I love the decor.


Something I would love to recreate in one part of my own place when I get it. To sit back, curl up with a good glass of wine and alittle wine bar.

We finally managed to have everyone here and got in at 9pm sheesh I tell you and my reservation was at 8.15pm. But nothing was going to mar my night too badly. The place is not too big but they had a teppanyaki room as well and I look forward to exploring THAT soon. and they now have lunch service and special bento boxes so I cant wait to go for that too. Hence I named this food find post ichi (one in japanese).

Thats the sushi/sashimi bench and great for last minute diners or people dining alone. I would so go for that. I love my independence like that.

So sorry for the pictures jumping all around because blogspot screwed it up when I was uploading. Anyway, that's the entrance.

Menu is available online so you can all go for a look.
http://www.burswood.com.au/Documents/Menus/Nobu-Full-Menu-300x300-Oct11.pdf


A peak at the ladies. Lovely blues.


Table settings have always been a favourite of mine. I like how they come round and open up the chopsticks for you. I did my own napkin already so I didnt get that.

If you cannot get the reservation you want via Burswood reservations hotline (which service is pretty bad), head straight to their counter. Its better and more efficient.

We ordered the ten-year old Sake which was sweet but not strong enough. Not the best I have had and sorry to say I would rather not order it.

This is one of their signature cold dishes, yellowtail sashimi with jalapenos. The yellotail sashimi was very fresh and sweet. I love the spicy japlapenos and the sauce. Give it a good tang to it.

This is their new style sashimi and smells/tastes strongly of sesame oil. I much prefer my salmon sashimi plain and fresh I guess. Not a big impact and the slices were too thin.

Very zen. Love the bold strokes and colour...

My friends ordered the tempura prawn sushi rolls. Personally, something I would never order when I go to my japanese restaurants but I do appreciate the fact that people do like to satisfy their cravings. Why would I not order them? because the rice is filling and you cannot really taste the quality of the food the place has to offer (also, they charge astroomical prices for something so ordinary). But the rice has been done well because you can look at the separate grains and how well they remain rolled.

Cute soya sauce bottle. A slight distraction before I introduce you to the STAR of my night and the dish I would go back to Nobu for day after day.

This is not on the menu and only offered when I asked for toro salmon sashimi which was unavailable. This is otoro (tuna belly sashimi). Very difficult to get right and something I am very very very fussy about. I have tried so many and none have come close to how I wanted it to be. My dad and sis loved them but I could never subject it to the same fancy because the quality of toro salmon I always had was so much better.

This is $24 a piece and I ordered two. Why? Because ONE is never enough...

Look at the beautiful marbling. Perfect cut.

My verdict: It is melt in your mouth perfection. There is no hint of fishiness or chalkiness that tuna sashimi sometimes have. Two is NOT enough. And it was money well spent. The thickness was just right to fill one's mouth and the fat content was perfect ratio to the fish meat. I was blown away by the marbling first off, the taste lived to expectations leading from that. I cannot fault this. It made my night.

But we must move on...

Friends ordered the Seafood Tobanyaki which come in a little claypot, uncovered at the very last minute served on the table. Fresh seafood, I didnt try it but the look cannot deceive.

The same friends ordered the King Crab Amazu Ponzu tempura. I didnt try but I love the presentation. I wished I did order one of their tempura dishes but we must leave some things for next time. The batter looks fresh and good and light. I could see the generous crab meat.

Ahhhh another star. One of Nobu's specialites: Black Cod Miso. For $46 it was a generous portion. We ordered two for the table of five. something I would also go back for. The fish was fresh and sweet and pure white. The buttery melt in your mouth texture that only the best cod fish can provide hit the spot. The miso was lightly coated and enhances the sweetness of the cod fish. Lightly charred, the skin was beautiful.

A close up, mouth watering aint it?

Pork Belly Miso Caramel cooked in a wood oven. The crackling was not as crunchy as I would like it but the complaint stopped there. The meat and fats ratio was perfect, rendering the dish slightly chewy and melt in your mouth goodness. The sauce was salty and sweet and the miso carmel enhances the saltiness of pork. Something I would not hesitate to reorder and four pieces are so NOT enough. My friends were kind enough to let me have two since three of us were sharing. I love pork belly. Yums...

We also made a second order becaue we underestimated our eating prowess. So we went with the special of the day: Whole Fish. We chose seared but apparently tempura was better. Oh wells.

The wall of fish meat.

The beautiful curved skeleton.

And the dish was HUGE. It really was and we struggled to finish it. But we did. And I was lucky enough to not have to share the head with anyone. Hehehehehe. The fish meat was very fresh and pure. Meaty and lightly seared. Yums. Sweet.

The mark of a very fresh fish is in its cheeks. My favourite part and I got both to meself. Since it is a big fish, the cheeks were meaty and pretty big. Amazing. One of the best cheeks Ive had.

Sam and Anna shared the rib-eye. Looks tender and perfectly cooked. Medium rare.

Since the masu sake we ordered in the beginning were not enough and not satisfying, I ordered another. The YK-50 the second highest level one there. Really want to try the YK-75 next. Anyways, the 50 was strong and sweet. I could taste a hint of its brew and pretty good. It is not nearly the best Ive had but it was better than the 10 year old one.

Moving on, no matter how completely stuffed we were, we had to have desserts.

We ordered three to share...

Bento Box with Green Tea Ice cream and Goma Tuille. Comes in a pretty bento box and its cover but before I could take a photo, it was taken off to reveal that. The chocolate lava cake was divine and I would eat that all. The green tea ice cream was light and did not taste strongly of green tea. Definitely a disappointment in that department.

Miso Cappucino with Vanilla Ice cream and Cappucino Foam. Sounds precious and tastes quite good. Not strong enough taste of coffee but I loved the bottom bits of crunchy bits and vanilla ice cream.

I chose the Satandagi filled with white chocolate and ginger and coffee ice cream and raspberry coulis. Satandagi are sweet deep fried buns of dough similar to doughnuts, native to the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. It tasted pretty darn good here and the bursts of white choc was yums. The dough was light enough and thin, not overbearing. Coffee ice cream was light and I loved the nuts pairing.

Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

I end this post with the YK 50 hokusetsu sake which I finished off at the end. Appropriate to a luxurious and mouthwatering meal.

Service-wise was pretty good, but I reckon they could do with more practice. They were friendly and easy-going. I didnt quite like that the waitress seemed to question my decision for the otoro (giving way to me thinking she thinks I cant quite afford it) Simply wont do for this level of service one would expect. Anyhow, I am still satisfied.

The bill totalled over $500 for the five of us which was very reasonable and I look forward to returning! Oh I am so glad for Nobu's opening. I hope they will be staying for a long time yet.

Till my next food find, Mayy xo